Court case[1991] 1 QB 564

Christopher Hull, an art dealer with no expertise in German expressionism, offered to sell a painting described in an auction catalogue as by Gabriele Münter. He told the buyers, Harlingdon, who specialised in that school, that he knew nothing about the artist and that they should rely on their own judgment. Harlingdon's expert examined the painting and bought it. It was a forgery. Harlingdon sued for the price, alleging a sale by description and breach of merchantable quality.

The Court of Appeal (Stuart-Smith LJ dissenting) held for the seller. A sale is a sale 'by description' only where the description is influential in the sale so as to become an essential term; here the buyer, the acknowledged expert, had not relied on the seller's attribution at all. The implied condition of correspondence with description therefore did not arise. Nor was the painting unmerchantable: it was saleable as a painting, and the price risk of attribution had been accepted by the buyer. Caveat emptor applied.